Leaving pets home alone is hard. Keeping them off the furniture when you’re out is almost impossible. Luckily, there’s a solution: pet cameras. In 2018, the pet camera market was worth about $50 million. By 2028, experts anticipate the industry will be worth nearly $526 million. That’s because pet owners, especially millennials, increasingly see pets as family members and want to make sure they’re happy and safe all day. The best pet cameras out there can connect to apps, send alerts and even dispense treats. It’s the closest thing we have to FaceTiming our pets from work, and we’ll take it.
The 9 Best Pet Cameras to Keep an Eye on Your Furry Friends While You’re Out
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Published Sep 29, 2022
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What to Look for in a Pet Camera
It’s worth noting some of the best pet cameras are actually security cameras designed to keep tabs on your home. Explore a variety of options—not just dedicated pet cameras—before settling on a product, as the cameras designed to deter crime will also do an effective job monitoring Rocky’s routine while you’re away.
Here are a few things to consider when shopping for pet cameras:
- Compatibility and requirements. What operating system will you need on your phone? How great does your wireless have to be?
- Purpose. Do you need to make sure Rocky is safe or do you want to ease separation anxiety with two-way audio and treat dispensers?
- Storage. If you want to look back at the footage of your pet from the previous day, you’ll likely need a paid subscription, as most pet cameras will only alert you to movement and store short videos to the app or the cloud, which won't be accessible later.
- Placement. Does your pet spend more time indoors or outdoors? Will you need multiple cameras or a whole network to accurately keep watch?
The Best Pet Cameras at a Glance
- Best Overall: Furbo Pet Camera
- Best Views: Furbo 360 Pet Camera
- Best Features: Petcube Cam HD
- Most Dual-Purpose: eufy D605 Pet Camera
- Clearest Images: eufy C24 Security Camera
- Best for Outdoors: Wyze Cam V3 Pet Camera
- Most Customizable: WoPet Pet Feeder Camera
- Best Night Vision: Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera
- Best Battery Life: Blink Mini Camera
- Two-Way Audio: Yes
- Nightvision: Yes
- Requirements: Apple iOS 12 or newer, Android 8.0 or newer
- Stand-out Feature: Furbo Dog Nanny
- Size: 9 inches by 5 inches
- Recorded Footage: With subscription
The Furbo Dog Camera sends you an alert when your dog barks so you can check out what’s going on at home. Observe your pup through their 160-degree (diagonal) wide-angle lens with 4X zoom capabilities. You can even customize a recorded call when you want to toss out a treat. Honestly though, the kicker for us is the Furbo Dog Nanny feature. Yes, it’s $7 per month, but it alerts you when glass breaks, fire alarms go off or there’s a potential intruders. FWIW, Furbo Dog Nanny boasts saving more than 25,000 dogs’ lives in the past year through these specialty alerts.
- Two-Way Audio: Yes
- Nightvision: Yes (Infrared LED, color)
- Requirements: Apple iOS 12 or newer, Android 8.0 or newer
- Stand-out Feature: 360-degree camera view
- Size: 9-inches by 5-inches
- Recorded Footage: With subscription
Okay, picture the Furbo pet camera, but new and improved. This updated model offers a quiet, 360-degree camera view that rotates as your furry friend moves to keep them in view. Terri Rockovich, co-founder of dog food brand Jinx and dedicated dog mom and foster, said this Furbo is her favorite camera. She loves that she can control it from her phone, and the two-way audio feature lets her chat with her pets. “The design is sleek and modern, translating really nicely to any room,” Rockovich adds. Plus, unlike the original, this camera has color night vision, which means you can keep watch over your babies even in low light.
- Two-Way Audio: Yes
- Nightvision: Yes
- Requirements: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
- Stand-out Feature: Vet chat option
- Size: 1.97 inches by 1.97 inches
- Recorded footage: With subscription
The PetCube HD camera offers 1080p HD video and a 110-degree wide-angle lens. The key feature, however, is right in the title: vet chat. If something looks off from afar, you can contact a licensed vet 24/7 through the app and send them pics or videos from the PetCube for consultation. This camera also allows you receive notifications for motion and sound or talk to your pet to keep them company. For an extra $6 per month, you can use PetCube Care to automatically record video and store footage for up to three days. This camera has more than 9,500 5-star reviews on Amazon.
- Two-Way Audio: Yes
- Nightvision: Yes
- Requirements: Android or Apple iOS
- Stand-out Feature: Free Doggy Diary
- Size: 10.28 inches by 5.63 inches
- Recorded Footage: Yes
This one doubles as a treat dispenser for dogs who need a little positive reinforcement throughout the day. You can toss treats remotely, choosing between three distance options. There’s an anti-clog mechanism that ensures you can keep your dog satiated without the dispenser getting stuck. The camera also has smart motion tracking with 270-degree rotation. A happy Chewy customer wrote, “The camera’s feature of turning all angles allows me to see all spaces in the room, which is great when it comes to keeping track of my cats.” Plus, the Doggy Diary feature is free and allows users to store 16GB of footage locally to review late
- Two-Way Audio: Yes
- Nightvision: Yes
- Requirements: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
- Stand-out Feature: Activity zone alerts
- Size: 2.24 inches by 2.24 inches
- Recorded Footage: Yes
This is an example of a high-quality security camera that easily doubles as a pet camera. Using AI, it detects whether a person or a pet is coming into view and lets you speak to them if you want to. This eufy indoor camera is also known for its clear images and storage options (it's compatible with iCloud, an SD card or eufy Cloud Service for an additional $3 per month). Its activity zone alert feature lets you choose specific spots in your home you want to monitor more closely (aka the couch Rocky knows he shouldn’t climb on). You can also connect it with Alexa or GoogleHome.
- Two-Way Audio: Yes
- Nightvision: Yes
- Requirements: Wi-Fi
- Stand-out Feature: Waterproof
- Size: 2.51 inches by 3.93 inches
- Recorded Footage: Yes (MicroSD card sold separately for $9)
Like the other cameras on our list, the Wyze Cam v3 Pet Camera immediately sends a push notification to your phone through the app when it detects sound or motion. Though it’s free to record and store up to three days of footage with the purchase of a MicroSD card, Wyze also offers CAM Plus for $2 per month for two weeks of video storage. This is an ideal camera if you’d like to monitor your pet outdoors, as it’s waterproof and designed to withstand temperatures from five below to 113 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Two-Way Audio: No, recorded audio only
- Nightvision: No
- Requirements: 2.4GHz WiFi
- Stand-out Feature: Food dispenser
- Size: 13.7 inches by 9.8 inches
- Recorded Footage: Yes, in app
WoPet's automatic cat feeder camera can totally work for dogs too and has more than 1,200 5-star reviews on Amazon. It allows you to set up six specific times each day for the auto feeder to open. Each meal can be set to dispense a different portion size, and you can skip auto feeds to dish up food manually if you need to. The feeder holds up to 29 cups of dry food, and you can even customize a recorded message to play before, during or after your pet eats. Yes, this plugs into an outlet, but it also has battery backup in case the power goes down and you’re not home to feed them yourself. One user noted: “The app, as mentioned, seems a little janky. It doesn't feel very modern but once you get the hang of it, it's very easy to use.”
- Two-Way Audio: Yes
- Nightvision: Yes
- Compatibility: Apple Home Kit, Alexa, Google Home
- Stand-out Feature: Wireless
- Size: 3.5 inches by 2 inches
- Recorded Footage: With subscription
This is another security camera moonlighting as an excellent pet camera. Its object detection feature can tell the difference between people, animals and stuff (like packages that have been delivered). It works outdoors and has crisp night vision, so if you need to monitor your pup at all hours, this is a great option. While the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight camera allows for live video streaming, you’ll need the Arlo Secure subscription for $3 per month to store video on the cloud for up to 30 days. That subscription also comes with additional emergency response options that seem worth the extra few bucks. Plus, it’s wireless and works outdoors.
- Two-Way Audio: Yes
- Nightvision: Yes
- Stand-out Feature: Customizable alerts
- Size: 2.8 inches by 2.8 inches
- Recorded Footage: With subscription
Say hello to the camera that has more than 150,000 5-star ratings on Amazon. The Blink Mini is wireless, compatible with Alexa and can run up to two years on the two AA batteries that come with it. Decide what kind of motion alerts you want to receive on your phone, so you aren’t bombarded with alerts all day. Though you can only livestream video for five minutes each day (in 30 second intervals), the Blink subscription plan allows you to stream for 90 minutes continuously and save video up to 60 days. The plan costs $3 per month and also lets you record automatically when the camera detects motion.
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Sarah Ashley is a Chicago-based freelance writer and journalist. Her work has appeared on PureWow, Reductress and Culture Trip. More often than not, Sarah covers pets, dogs, cats and anything related to wildlife. She is currently working towards her master's in journalism at NYU.
